Project 1: Final (1st submission)

Genre Analysis - Motown & Hip Hop

Lauren Whaley

[Sally walks into Stacy and Suzys room frazzled.]

Sally: I swear my roommate is the most inconsiderate human to walk the earth.
Stacy: [Looks at roommate, Suzy, rolling eyes]
Sally, we cant have you storming into our room every other night complaining about your
roommates music. Plus, I dont get it. You know where I stand, I always use Marvin Gaye as my
go-to anytime studying macroeconomic outlines.
[Holds her headphones up] Im even listening to his Pandora Station as we speak, I don't know
why you keep coming back to us.
Sally: [Completely disregards Stacys comment]
No matter how hard I try, the heaviest buzz of the bass in my Hip Hop songs cant block out
those obnoxious horns in her dinosaur-age playlist. I dont know how you people can even use it
as a pick me up sort of thing. Its more of a throbbing headache if anything. The songs are so
much more loud. Theyre so much more repetitive. I swear it takes days to get them out of my
head.
Stacy: Youll find that catchiness in most any song, whether theyre from today or back in the
day. Thats the goal of most artists, as their message also gets stuck in your head along with
that catchy beat. All in all, I just find Motown oldies to be refreshing especially when most the
rap songs on the radio are about petty parties or vengeful feelings for an ex-girlfriend.
Sally: Why cant you just take my side for once. Theres no way youd rather listen to those
cheesy lovey-dovey songs instead of any of the new ones on the MTV.
Stacy: I mean, it depends on what Im in the mood for. Generally, I just find more substance to
the older eras music. Those artists could keep the party going while still effectively promoting
some kind of meaningful movement in their funky sounds. You dont see that as much in todays
music, at least I dont.
Sally: I cant believe youd put that genre above Hip Hop. How could you completely dismiss
any of the classics like that. Eazy-E is probably rolling over in his grave right now.
Stacy: Oh no, trust me, Im not that ignorant. I can see where youre coming from. In all
honesty, I actually feel that both genres get some kind of message across to their audiences.

They just do it in different ways: word choice, how they portray their content, obviously the actual
instrumental atmosphere
Sally: You sound like my mom. Your kind of music is such a drag. Next thing you know youll
be trying to justify the country genre and so on. Whats it matter even if theres an important
message in the lyrics if the sound puts you to sleep?
Stacy: Well, timeout. Sorry, not to get sidetracked- im not trying to be that kid but after my 4th
english class of defining the concept of genre, I cant help myself but clarify - you understand
that the definition of genre isnt just limited to music categories right?
Sally: I just came here to vent, not to get literature lesson.
Stacy: Bear with me here, but genre is more that just the different music styles. Songs
themselves are united under one group of genre as they're a type of composition. So overall,
the point of music composition isnt entirely different, it just changes its look as time moves on to
accommodate artists in what they want to use them for (such as altering their sound for the sake
of what their audience wants to listen to).
Sally: I know thats probably the case, its just hard to believe seeing how entirely different the
two music styles sound.
Stacy: Not to put the music on too high of a pedestal, but the messages embedded in Motown
music struck a cord in most people back in the day. Artist went to pretty great lengths to push
different agendas, bringing up real problems at hand. Marvin Gaye was a huge name on the
Motown label, but he even threatened his entire career by digging his heels in the ground to get
his anti-war song through. Even with producers avoiding songs laced with controversy (usually)
at all costs, Whats Going On still made it through.
Sally: Dont be a moron. Thats a perfect example of a song could instantly put me to sleep.
How is it even the least bit controversial?
Stacy: Thats the funny thing about this genre. The typical Motown song emphasized
positivity with an upbeat sound that continued to resonate through their message. Even with
that heavy-saxophone sound, those lyrics voiced a nonconformist opinion on a large platform.
That kind of challenge was incredibly rare in the cautious day to day lifestyle of that time period.
Sally: But that sleepy sort of beat wouldnt keep my attention long enough for me to even pay
attention to the first verse, so what does it matter? Its the new stuff that gets me pumped, ready
to go. With the bass that moves through your body, the lightning speed rhyming, and the hyped

up lyrics. Man, songs were so conservative back then. Rappers now take on much more
freedom in what they say, they just let it all hang out.
Suzy: Not to butt in, but you guys have to understand that the societal norms play a role in this
alteration right? Society was different back in Motowns prime. The 60s and 70s were the
heyday for hippies so, of course, artists were going to adjust and combine feel-good rhythms
with peaceful feel-good messages so they weren't completely dismissed. It makes sense why
Gayes unifying family diction would be more successful than that of N.W.A.s more unfiltered
violent lyrics back then. But times are different now, society and crowds aren't as sensitive
anymore.
Stacy: Heh. Well, I cant disagree with that.
Sally: Exactly, Motown is a thing of the past. N.W.A. is the poster child of that outspoken style
that keeps everybody entertained, no matter what. I can listen to that sort of thing to wake me
up, work out, anything. That gets me motivated/ready to take on whatever, like nothing else.
Stacy: I mean, they definitely have a more aggressive ring to their songs. F*** Tha Police
basically epitomizes that.
Sally: Granted the wording is a bit more nitty-gritty, but its just their passion coming out. They
grew up in the dangerous streets in Compton and saw that sort of corrupt police department first
hand on a daily basis. Even though their lyrics and tone are a little threatening, theyre bringing
awareness to the problem. Speaking out for change. That sort of first hand interaction has the
creditability that can truly resonate with the genres/songs listeners in the audience. Especially
those that have experienced that same struggle.
Stacy: I guess thats true. But -
Sally: - and on top of it, this technological age even aids their legacy. Straight Out of Compton
helps reinforce what the group stood for in another form of genre - movies. Isn't that right ms.
know-it-all.
Stacy: Thats true I guess. But Marvin Gaye wasnt detached from his message either. He
was also touched by the frustration he sang about. But he took the energy and went in a
different direction (than the aggressive one). His brothers stories were the driving force behind
the song. And even with that sort of power in the lyrics, he kept his soulful delicate tone. The
chorus of that song was blatantly parallel to N.W.A.s cause of frustration when he says Dont
punish me with brutality in reference to the peace riots back then. But its the next part with his
following verse Talk to me so you can see that set the genres apart. Gaye still had a very love

trumps hate sort of vibe, plus he didnt have to curse in between every breathe to get his point
across.
Suzy: [under her breathe]
Once again, Society was different back then. Whether it was due to the time frame or not, the
genres were reaching out to difference audiences. -Well, thats probably not the best way to put
it. Both genres were reaching out to that of the same pool of people, but said pool of people
abided by different life styles. The genre of music has just bent with its flexibility to go with the
societal flow. The two genres aren't necessarily polar opposites just because the majority of one
sounds excessively angry and crude, while the other is more cheery or mellow. Thats just
another characteristic of genres: theyre flexible, they overlap. These categories dont have drycut separations no matter how badly you guys want them to exist. You're going in circles, toemay-to, tam-at-o. With police brutality and plenty of other discriminatory threats, the battles
fought back during the Civil Rights Movement are still around in 2016, in one form or another.
There is still a lack of justice and equality. Now please, I will buy you both something from
Gumbys if you can take this outside. I have to have this lab report in by midnight, I cant focus.
Stacy: well-
Suzy: [throws her hands up]
Why me!
Stacy: Fine. Well save it for another day. Not that I'm saying anything new, but I really think
you should give this music genre a chance. Like Suzy said, these genres overlap[Suzy throws her hands up again, relieved as shes finally been explicitly ac
knowledged]
- so maybe when you see some of Hip Hops roots coming from Motown, you wont find it to be
so much of a nuisance.
Sally: Youve given me the same bit of advice every single time Ive come in here. And look,
four months down the line and were still here.
Stacy: Now whose fault is that.
[starts spinning back around to her notes]
Not that it matters, im getting used to it. Just another day in paradise of being your suite mate.
[Sally lets out a sigh, then turns for the connecting bathroom door]
___________________________

Project One definitely gave me exposure to a writing style that i never took the opportunity to
utilize in an educational or informative fashion. With that being said I have a lot to improve on in
terms of the dialogue structure. I found myself struggling to effectively get my argument across
to readers between comparing and contrasting 2 genres of music and simultaneously defining
the collective concept of genre (while making it colloquial and interesting all the while). I felt I
got sidetracked too often, as the conversation became scattered with me trying to compensate
for what I felt was a lack of interesting material. I found myself including random facts/tidbits
that didnt mesh or transition well as I had a difficult time attempting to slim down my word count
to such an extent. I also avoided making certain decisions on what to cut out, seeing as i
originally tried using 4 different songs to talk about: two to compare, two to contrast. I thought
doing so would help reinforce my argument by bringing the similarities and differences to light,
but In the long run this led to more issues (most notably, having exceeded the word count). I
also felt that i dove too far into the information i looked up to form my foundation for the paper to
get started, thus I did a little more research than what was needed for this particular project. with
that being said, I dont necessarily feel satisfied despite having opportunity to re-write multiple
drafts. I think I failed to get a good grasp on this writing form, which snowballed into my
argument/thesis becoming more and more discombobulated.
In the future, I specifically want to focus on doing a better job of forming the surprise factor.
In this piece I found it frustrating because i truly have an interest in the topic i was discussing,
however like i said, most of the interesting information i found seemed out of place (and more
than likely wouldnt have been as profound to other readers as it was to me). So although
picking my topic was easy, i definitely found translating my information from a typical writing
style of 5 paragraph essay to an easy flowing dialogue to be the most challenging for me. I also
feel that the surprise/interesting factor would be extremely beneficial to my writing as it could
potentially change my own view point. I ended up on the same side of the fence when I finished
this paper as to when i started it. Although it ended in an open-ended manner, I found myself to
be naturally inclined to putting more emphasis on Motown music as I prefer it over most any
other genre of music. So aside from correcting and developing my writing style (and helping
condense my thoughts to this new writing style for future use), I want to broaden the information
I include in my writing while still including details that will pop out and surprise whoever is
reading my paper.
___________________________
Citations:
Bohannon, John. "These Are the Breaks: The Motown Sound's Influence on Hip-Hop Sampling."
PopMatters. N.p., 27 Jan. 2009. Web. 6 Sept. 2016.
"Hip-Hop/Rap Music Genres." Music Genres List RSS2. N.p., 2015. Web. 5 Sept. 2016.

Fontenot, Robert. "What Is Motown Music?" About.com Entertainment. N.p., 31 Mar. 2016. Web.
5 Sept. 2016.
Braziller, Amy, and Elizabeth Kleinfeld. The Bedford Book of Genres: A Guide. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
Print.